The Atlantic Forest suffered the felling of 20,075 hectares (ha) of forest in the period of one year, between October 2021 and 2022, corresponding to more than 20 thousand soccer fields. The data are from the Atlantic Forest Atlas, a survey carried out by the SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation, in partnership with the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Although the number represents a 7% drop in relation to that detected in 2020-2021 (21,642 hectares), SOS Mata Atlântica assesses that deforestation is still at a high level. The area deforested in the last year is the second largest in the last six years and is 76% above the lowest value ever recorded in the historical series, which was 11,399 hectares between 2017 and 2018. “There was a small drop of 7%, but the we consider that it is a situation of stability, it is a very small variation at a high level, above 20 thousand hectares, which is a very high value for the Atlantic Forest if we understand that it is a cumulative process of 500 years of deforestation. It is a very worrying data. There are 55 hectares lost per day”, said the executive director of Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica, Luís Fernando Guedes Pinto. Data from the organization indicate that the biome is home to almost 70% of the population and accounts for around 80% of Brazil’s economy, in addition to producing 50% of the food consumed in the country. Most deforested states The survey points out that deforestation is concentrated in five states: Minas Gerais, Bahia, Mato Grosso do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná. In the first three, Guedes reveals that deforestation is the result of the expansion – on a large scale – of agriculture and livestock. He points out that they are agricultural frontier regions still in the process of being opened up. “In Paraná and Santa Catarina [tem-se] an agricultural frontier region that we consider consolidated, but that persists with deforestation eating the edges of the forests. An increase in the cultivated area there always eating a little piece in each place by the edge, there are many small deforestations, but still very relevant that accumulate thousands of hectares”, he indicated. Five states account for 91% of deforestation: Minas Gerais (7,456 ha), Bahia (5,719 ha), Paraná (2,883 ha), Mato Grosso do Sul (1,115 ha) and Santa Catarina (1,041 ha). Eight states recorded an increase in deforestation (Alagoas, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraíba, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and Sergipe) and nine showed a reduction (Ceará, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Pernambuco, Piauí, Paraná, Rio Grande do Norte, Santa Catarina and São Paulo). In relation to the municipalities, ten concentrate 30% of the total deforestation in the period. Of these, five are located in Minas Gerais, one in Mato Grosso do Sul and four in Bahia. Only 0.9% of the losses occurred in protected areas, while 73% occurred in private lands, which, according to the entity, reinforces that forests have been destroyed, mainly to make way for pastures and agricultural crops, in addition to speculation. real estate – in the vicinity of large cities and on the coast – which is also pointed out as another of the main causes. Guedes also cited “a cloud of small deforestation” spread by urban expansion and growth in infrastructure and tourism around the large cities of the Atlantic Forest and on the coast. For him, this scenario of deforestation is unacceptable for a biome that is so threatened and that is essential to guarantee ecosystem services, such as water conservation, in addition to avoiding tragedies such as the one that occurred on the north coast of São Paulo, in which there were landslides and floods. https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/geral/noticia/2023-03/um-mes-apos-tragedia-familias-de-sao-sebastiao-vivem-incerteza Combat The main measure to combat deforestation in the Atlantic Forest it is a more rigorous inspection, suggested Guedes, with respect to the Atlantic Forest Law and the Forest Code. “Because most of these deforested areas [é de] illegal deforestation. If we have illegality, what are the paths? Increased inspection and environmental agencies, both federal and state and municipal, acting more rigorously”, he emphasized. In the rural area, other actions considered important include the embargo of deforested areas, that public and private credits stop financing farms that are deforesting and the interruption of sales of what is produced in these areas of illegal deforestation. “The role of the private sector is not to buy raw materials from deforested areas. So, we produce soy, sugar cane, beef in deforested areas and we need companies to meet their zero deforestation targets and stop buying,” he said. In the urban environment, he points out that the master plans of cities can set limits for expansion, in addition to creating protected areas, parks and reserves. He assesses that legal mechanisms are at risk, such as Provisional Measure (MP) 1,150, approved by the Chamber of Deputies, which could contribute to the destruction of the biome. “The essence of the MP is to postpone the steps for implementing the Forest Code, so it postpones the deadlines, removes the penalties for producers who have not registered with the CAR (Rural Environmental Registry). In practice, what it means is that the Forest Code is not implemented and we do not start restoring illegally deforested forests. This already has a consequence for the Atlantic Forest and for all Brazilian biomes, which is to delay restoration”, analyzed the expert. Biomas The Deforestation Alert System (SAD), from MapBiomas and which complements the data from the Atlas of SOS Mata Atlântica, had the first data for a complete year and showed that total deforestation could be almost four times greater than that documented until the time. The SAD database is broader, which allows for more detailed observation. The Atlas, which considers deforestation of more than three hectares and evaluates the conservation of the largest remnants of mature forests, reveals that there is 12.4% of the original area of the biome. The SAD, which covers remnants of over 0.5 hectares, including mature forests and young forests undergoing regeneration, showed a forest coverage of the biome of 24%. Alerts The survey of deforestation identified between January and December 2022 – carried out using the Deforestation Alert System – recorded 9,982 alerts in the year, totaling 75,163 hectares lost between mature and young forests. The total area lost, therefore, would be almost four times greater than that accounted for by the Atlas, which demonstrates a threat to both the young and mature forests of the biome. About this difference, the foundation explained that, while the Atlas offers an annual “photograph” of the state of conservation of large forest fragments, which are of greater importance for biodiversity, and intends to support long-term policies for the conservation of the biome, the SAD data are released weekly in order to generate complete documentation for each deforestation alert, seeking greater speed and effectiveness in the actions of the bodies responsible for combating and supervising deforestation.
Agência Brasil
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